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Industry should do its part

Published: Wednesday, May 8, 2013 at 2:20 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, May 8, 2013 at 2:20 p.m.

“We gotta do this, we gotta do that for industry in the state, or they’ll leave.” I’ve been hearing that for most of the 58 years I’ve been on this Earth.

In my Louisiana and Southern History class at LSU, I was made aware that most industry here was extractive. They wanted the rich natural resources here — timber, petroleum, sulfur — and they wanted to extract them as cheaply as possible to make the biggest profit. That meant spending as little money as possible on wages and environmental cleanup.

So, when Dan Juneau of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry says industry can’t afford anymore tax increases, I’m reminded: Where have I heard this song before? Why not put something back into this state for the people’s health, education, roads and natural beauty? They’ve already extracted enough to make it to the New York Stock Exchange. Why not help our state when we need them?

<p>“We gotta do this, we gotta do that for industry in the state, or they'll leave.” I've been hearing that for most of the 58 years I've been on this Earth.</p><p>In my Louisiana and Southern History class at LSU, I was made aware that most industry here was extractive. They wanted the rich natural resources here — timber, petroleum, sulfur — and they wanted to extract them as cheaply as possible to make the biggest profit. That meant spending as little money as possible on wages and environmental cleanup.</p><p>So, when Dan Juneau of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry says industry can't afford anymore tax increases, I'm reminded: Where have I heard this song before? Why not put something back into this state for the people's health, education, roads and natural beauty? They've already extracted enough to make it to the New York Stock Exchange. Why not help our state when we need them?</p>